Empowering veterans for a brighter future.
“A Veteran's salute” by The U.S. Army is licensed under CC BY 2.0
Supporting veterans and educating students.
NYU Veterans Legal Services Project is a student-led clinic open to any NYU School of Law student with a passion for advocating on behalf of our nation’s heroes. We work directly with the Veterans Consortium Pro Bono Program (TVC), a national 501(c)(3) charity providing free legal services in federal venues for veterans in need. Our goal is to help provide much needed legal services for veterans and their families in their time of need, while exposing law students to the great need in this area and providing the tools to help them help others.
Our Projects
Benefits Appeals
We will be working with TVC in order to help veterans, their loved ones, and their surviving family members receive the help they need to prove entitlement to VA benefits. In addition, we aim to teach law students about veterans law and how to handle VA benefit claims and appeals. Other benefits of this clinic are:
The (rare) opportunity to participate in appellate litigation while performing pro bono service; this includes appellate brief writing and in some cases could involve making oral arguments.
The potential for an opportunity to make new law since the Veterans Court is still relatively new and some cases may present issues of first impression.
The training and experience to continue this kind of work as part of a life-long pro bono practice or even a career.
"Courtroom" by karen_neoh is licensed under CC BY 2.0
Discharge Upgrades
Once our benefits appeals program is firmly established, we hope to expand our services to include discharge upgrades. We hope to accomplish this by working together with the TVC Discharge Upgrade Program℠ to represent veterans who received an Other Than Honorable discharge, primarily due to misconduct related to PTSD, Military Sexual Trauma, TBI and other mental health issues.
"Court Gavel - Judge's Gavel - Courtroom" by weiss_paarz_photos is licensed under CC BY-SA 2.0
Essential Legal Services
As NYU Veterans Legal Services Project grows we hope to be able work together with local NYC organizations to help provide essential legal services for veterans and their families such as ensuring their access to safe housing, helping them prepare advance directives, including wills, powers of attorney, and health care proxies, and obtain food stamps and other public benefits.
"Grand Central Veterans Day ceremony" by MTAPhotos is licensed under CC BY 2.0
“With malice toward none, with charity for all… let us strive on to finish the work we are in, to bind up the nation’s wounds, to care for him who shall have borne the battle and for his widow, and his orphan….”
— President Lincoln’s second inaugural address
Contact
Please feel free to contact us with any questions or to get involved!